Julian Speroni ahead of Chelsea: I put my body on the line... I nearly lost an eye in 2009

The stopper - who has more Palace ­appearances than anybody else between the sticks - revealed for the first time last night how he came within a few centimetres of losing an eye in a Championship match against Southampton.

Sporting a bruise on his right arm after a tackle by Dame N'Doye against Hull last week, Speroni accepts injuries come with the job.

The four-time Palace Player of the Year said: "You have to go for it and put your body on the line for your team. There is no sympathy."

But there was on the occasion which still makes him recoil in horror even now. Speroni said: "My eye was kicked in a Championship game by Andrew Surman at Southampton in 2009.

"If it had been a couple of centimetres the other way, I could have been blinded.

BRAVE: Speroni doesn't mind getting hurt for the cause [GETTY]

“If it had been a couple of centimetres the other way, I could have been blinded”

Julian Speroni

"I just went down to cover the ball and I got caught with some studs."

And that incident, according to tough-guy Speroni, was enough to make losing the top of his finger almost painless.

He said: "The top of my finger was cut off when I played at Reading.

"I played on but then blood came through my glove and I realised something was wrong.

"But that was the next to last game of a season so I didn't miss too much."

Speroni has become a hero at Palace since joining them in 2004 and has been awarded a testimonial on May 26th against his former club Dundee.

The Buenos Aires-born keeper said: "There have been some stressful times. We had a lot of worries. I wondered about my future.

PRESSURE: Speroni thinks people should avoid expecting too much of Courtois [GETTY]

"People think all footballers are mega-rich but it's not always the case. There are the elite who are at a different level but we had been in the Championship for ten years. We have good contracts but short careers, it is not easy.

"But it turned around for us and now we can enjoy. The Premier League is huge all over the world and that helps."

Chelsea No.1 Thibaut Courtois has been called by some the best keeper in the world but Speroni thinks that is too much pressure to place on him.

He said: "It is too early to say whether he can be the best in the world.

"He certainly has the potential to be that but David de Gea has also had a very good season and there are other goalkeepers you could put in that category.

"All credit to him, because it is not easy to adapt to English football so quickly."

Speroni says that even though Chelsea are going for the title today, he and his Palace team-mates will approach the game with no fear.

He added: "Players don't fear. You get those nerves and that's good. If you don't feel anything that means you don't care.

"The problem with nerves is when they control you, then it becomes a problem.

"But once you have touched the ball, those nerves are good.

"Who will go down this season is hard to call. But we are not in that position any more and there are exciting times ahead for Palace and the fans here."